55. The Rabbit, the Tortoise, and the Millet

"Come to dinner!" Tortoise told his friend, Rabbit.
When Rabbit came, Tortoise said, "Grind the millet on my body."
Tortoise lay down, Rabbit ground the millet, then Tortoise cooked it, and they ate.
Next time, Rabbit invited Tortoise to dinner.
"Grind on me!" said Rabbit, and he lay down. Tortoise started grinding, but it hurt so badly Rabbit jumped up and said, "No, I'll grind on you."
Tortoise lay down, Rabbit ground the millet and cooked it, but when he served the food, Tortoise was angry. "That wasn't fair!" he said, and he went away hungry.
They aren't friends anymore.
[a Lango story from Uganda]



Inspired by: "The Hare And The Tortoise" in The Lango: A Nilotic Tribe of Uganda by J. H. Driberg, 1923.
Notes: You can read the original story online. I'm not quite sure I understand this one; there is also a motif of "sweeping the yard" which shows up in a similar story about Rabbit and Python.



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